Burgundy

Give Jean-Francois Bouchard credit for guts.The managing director of the large Burgundy shipping firm Bouchard Pere & Fils breezed into Baltimore this month with a boatload of Burgundy -- not just his own but those of his fellow producers.He was ready to take on all comers in a blind tasting, and the rivals he chose were no mere sparring partners. They were the heavyweights of Burgundy -- renowned small producers such as Armand Girardin and Henri Jayer, highly respected fellow shippers such as Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin and even the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, the region's most famous estate.

From: California Price: $5 Serve: Pizza, pasta, chili, hamburgers Yes, Gallo Hearty Burgundy. You got a problem with that? This iconic wine, which led Gallo's move away from sweet fortified wines and into the realm of table wine, is celebrating its 50 t h anniversary. For as long as I can remember it's been a superb value. In 1972, "Time" put the wine on its cover and called it the best wine value in the United States. Not much has changed. It offers generous fruit, vinified dry, and a soft texture.

When you think about wine bargains, about the last place you think of is Burgundy.It is a region whose name -- whether you use the English Burgundy or the French Bourgogne -- is synonymous with expensive. The best Burgundies, red or white, can fetch $300 a bottle, and even a so-so wine that bears a famous village name can set you back more than $30. With no other region is extravagant spending less of a guarantee of quality in the bottle.With Burgundy's whites, that poses only minor problems.

The thin bicycle tires spun through puddles, spewing water like a fountain run amok on the 24 cyclists sloshing past the celebrated red wine vineyards of Nuits-St-Georges.It was a sodden, chilly day that cyclists could do without. Yet, with zeppelin-gray clouds hovering above the Burgundian vineyards, the let's-wait-for-the-weather-to-clear tactic wasn't an option.Rain, though, doesn't dampen cyclists' spirits nearly as much as it does those of tourists contending with umbrellas, foggy windows and the option of spending the day inside a museum.

Burgundy is not a wine region that is usually associated with great value.Through most of the 1970s and 1980s, in fact, no famous wine region of France gave poorer return on the consumer's wine dollar.That appears to be changing -- at least for now. No, Burgundy producers are not slashing their prices, but they do not appear to be raising them as aggressively as their compatriots in many other regions. The dollar is strong -- always a plus for devotees of French wines.Meanwhile, nature has brought the region known to the French as Bourgogne a string of fine vintages.

Once again, Rodet's regional pinot noir is the finest value in red Burgundy. I've been touting this wine since 1990, but this might be the best vintage yet. Its exuberant fruitiness delights the palate, and its structure and acidity mark it as a true Burgundy. This light- to medium-bodied wine isn't complex or nuanced, but it delivers straightforward pinot noir flavor with no punches pulled. This delicious summertime red puts most $15- $20 red Burgundies with more prestigious village names to shame.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3700 block of Valerie Carol Court: A burglar who entered through an unlocked door was scared away when a resident yelled at him on Tuesday afternoon.7700 block of Waterloo Road: A Burgundy 1986 Chrysler Lebaron with Maryland tags YGC42 was stolen between Monday and Wednesday, police said.

City police are searching for the occupants of a burgundy van with temporary tags who witnesses say took a man from his front porch Wednesday night. A witness told police that the man was sitting on his front porch in the 2300 block of Lauretta Ave. when the van pulled up and several people with guns forced the man from his porch into the van, said Agent Donny Moses, Police Department spokesman. Moses said homicide is investigating, which is standard procedure in an abduction investigation.

By Doyle McManus and Doyle McManus,Los Angeles Times | October 21, 2007

The winemakers of Beaujolais are not happy this year. That seems odd, considering they live in some of France's most beautiful villages, where old stone houses are decked with flowers amid hillside vineyards heavy with grapes, a half-day's drive south of Paris. But to hear the growers tell it, the world is in a perilous state. New wines from Australia are flooding the market, even in France. The cost of labor -- each grower hires students, retirees and migrant workers to pick the grapes -- keeps going up every fall.

By Nancy Jones-Bonbrest and Nancy Jones-Bonbrest,Special to the Sun | November 29, 2006

Kurt Erickson Wine manager Beltway Fine Wine and Spirits, Towson Salary --$18 an hour Age --26 Years on the job --One How he got started --Erickson graduated from Purdue University with a degree in food science. He worked as a wine technician while at Purdue. The university is involved in wine-growing research to help Indiana's wine industry. He then worked as an assistant winemaker in Ohio and later in Florida. He said he took the Towson wine manager's job because he was looking for greater responsibility and more opportunity to learn.

It is usually easier to admire the red wines of Burgundy than to recommend them. Burgundy, known in French as Bourgogne, is one of the world's most renowned wine regions. Its name has been heartily hijacked by pretenders from all around the world - most notoriously by Gallo. True burgundy has a style all its own among the red wines of the world - seldom approximated even by those who lovingly cultivate the pinot noir grape. It depends less on concentration than finesse to make its point, and when it is at its peak, it ripples across the palate with a suppleness that few other wines of the world can match.

Pinot noir is to a restaurant wine list what an infielder who can play three positions is to a baseball team: invaluable. Wines made from the classic Burgundy grape have a versatility you don't find in cabernet sauvignon or merlot. They can span the gap between your salmon and your companion's steak. They have an extra measure of acidity that pairs well with grilled foods. Their relatively light tannins make them pleasant to drink young. At their best, whether from Burgundy or from the American West, they can be sublime.

It took eight months and more than 100 bricklayers, but the last of 1.2 million burgundy-colored bricks has been cemented into place at the Ravens stadium, giving the project its most distinctive visual signature.Designers of the $220 million stadium hope the brick will both integrate the structure with nearby Oriole Park and give it a flourish that will be copied in other cities.But at least for the time being, it will stand alone. Despite baseball's enthusiastic embrace of brick facades, the Ravens' is the first football stadium in decades to use the graceful, but pricey siding.

Sometimes life actually does get better in America. Sometimes now is clearly superior to then. Sometimes progress doesn't exact a horrific price.Consider beer. A decade ago, foreigners pitied us and our bland national brands. Now it seems that every county seat has a microbrewery that puts the Bavarians to shame.Consider cars. Fifteen years ago, you bought an American automobile as a patriotic sacrifice. Now you buy them because they're well-made.In the world of wine, consider California pinot noir.